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Jeyl, that was a wonderful, beautifully-written explanation of what was done to the Voting Rights Act by the Supreme Court decision of Shelby County, Al v. Eric Holder. But, I have to correct you on one minor detail. The Supreme Court decision didn't strike down the whole entire Act, but it did eliminate a very key part of it: Section 4. The part that called for pre-clearance and stricter oversight of states and jurisdictions with a notoriously bad history of voter discrimination against minorities. What you referred to as the "Red States". Section 4 determined which states were to be deemed problematic and required pre-clearance and more oversight. Without Section 4, all states are now on equal footing, and the ones that were deemed worthy of more scrutiny, don't have to "check in" with the government before they pass new voting laws anymore.

If people aren't motivated enough to get an ID they don't deserve to vote. You cannot know if voter fraud is an issue and presuming to know is ignorant. If someone can file for housing or any other type of assistance, they certainly can get a voter ID but they don't because it doesn't directly involve handouts.

JoeR wrote: Where's the special feature on how they totally lied regarding LBJ and made him the villain simply because he's white? Movies lie!?

I can admit that the LBJ depiction is a little problematic, but I thought he was presented more as a complex character than a villain. Either way you land on it, it's unfortunate that this is what many people are taking away from the movie, and that they are using it to be dismissive of what is otherwise a very relevant and powerful story.

It's also interesting that they excluded LBJ from the cover art, probably cause of the bad press.

What makes this film extremely relevant today isn't the notion that there is still racism in this country, but that the one key element that was accomplished at this moment in history was the Voting Rights Act, which protected voters from racial discrimination. But on June 25th, 2013, the supreme court struck the act down and thereby allowing red states to implement laws and regulations that serve no other purpose than to make voting more difficult. Such as, but not limited to mandatory voter ID, reduced early voting days and the complete elimination of same-day registration.

Many politicians who supported these new laws always stood by them by saying that it was completely constitutional and big problem solvers since it would help eliminate voter fraud. Many already saw problems with these reasonings since voter fraud has never been an issue that deeply affected an election. But it wasn't until October of the same year that Don Yelton, a former GOP precinct chair in North Carolina said, and I quote "The law is going to kick the Democrats in the butt. If it hurts a bunch of lazy blacks that want the government to give them everything, so be it.”

This film is extremely relevant because we're not continuing to move forward, we're moving back. Voting should not a privilege, it's a right.